Injuries push Wichita State’s Ty Taylor into bigger role than planned

Ty Taylor’s best skill is his shooting. He was scheduled to spend a season learning how to run a team under the instruction of senior Fred VanVleet.

That timetable no longer applies to the freshman point-guard-in-training.

No. 20 Wichita State needs to make the best uses of Taylor’s skills — shooting and otherwise — because VanVleet and freshman Landry Shamet are sidelined with injuries. That leaves the Shockers (2-1) with senior Ron Baker moving to point guard, working with Taylor, sophomore Zach Brown and junior walk-on John Robert Simon in the backcourt.

They face Southern California (4-0) on Thursday in the opening game of the AdvoCare Invitational. No. 23 Xavier (4-0) or Alabama (2-1) await on Friday.

“When (Taylor) and Ron are together, you’ve got a veteran guard he can lean on for some of the ball-handling and organization parts,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “When he’s in with Brown or J.R., he’ll have to assume more of that role … quickly and successfully.”

WSU eased into the its temporary post-VanVleet look on Saturday against NCAA Division II Emporia State. On Thursday, the degree of difficulty climbs significantly. USC averages 92.5 points and feasts on fastbreak dunks and layups. Turnovers by the Shockers will turn into highlight plays for the Trojans.

During Saturday’s game against Emporia State, Taylor often sat next to VanVleet and soaked up his experience.

“I’m just be there to be the voice and reason and calm him down and allow him to play his game,” VanVleet said. “There’s a lot of expectations to be the next guard up.”

VanVleet is sidelined with a strained left hamstring and isn’t expected to return until WSU’s game at Saint Louis on Dec. 5. Shamet, a freshman who showed advanced maturity and skills in three games, had surgery on Wednesday to fix a stress fracture in his left foot. While a timetable for his return is uncertain, he is probably out until at least early February.

Taylor, from Grandview, Mo., knows where his game must grow. In high school, his team needed his scoring, so he handled the ball. Everything else came second.

“I brought the ball up the floor, that’s all that was,” he said.

At Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, he shared point-guard duties and started learning the position. That education hit another level at WSU, where point guards must learn the 100-plus plays, run the plays, help other players run the plays and defend. Scoring comes last on coach Gregg Marshall’s list of requirements for a point guard.

“We’re not very fond of turnovers around here,” VanVleet said. “You have know where everybody else, and you’ve got to know your job. It’s different for him, because Coach’s system doesn’t expect point guards to score a ton. He’s a natural scorer. I think he just needs to play his game and score the ball and do it well, and work on those other things.”

So each game and practice is a chance for Taylor to show he can dribble against pressure, make the right pass, find players who are open and manage the shot clock. His scoring is secondary. After Wednesday’s practice, Taylor and Brown joined assistant coach Greg Heiar for a ball-handling session. They dribbled two balls and Heiar tossed a Gatorade cup and bottle at them, forcing them to catch with one hand while dribbling with the other.

“You’ve just got to get the reps,” Taylor said. “Watching helps, but just being out there is important. I can’t make mistakes, so Coach has to bring me out. I’ve got to be consistent.”

VanVleet’s absence affects every aspect for WSU. Without him, the Shockers get fewer easy baskets, either off breaks or from his driving and passing. The Shockers, before Saturday’s game, let go of the idea of VanVleet riding to the rescue. As they said after the game, they started to work on ways to win without him.

“What’s tough to replace when Fred’s not on the court is how vocal he is,” Baker said after Saturday’s game. “He gets us into our offense and he’s very vocal on defense. He commands our team to do what he says. We’re trying to get myself and Ty, and even J.R., to be more vocal out there and try and get guys more organized. When we’re in our set defense and run our sets on the offensive end more thoroughly, the better off we are.”

Marshall stopped a session during Wednesday’s practice to praise his team’s communication, telling them the constant chatter is how the gym needs to sound all the time. The Trojans will push the ball on offense and take quick shots, forcing the Shockers to rally back on defense and find shooters immediately.

“We were not as good in the Tulsa game,” Marshall said. “We’re going to see a team that is going to blow it up quickly and try to score in transition. So we need to have improved effort in that category.”

Catch a ride — WSU guard Conner Frankamp is in Orlando, half-tourist and half-basketball player.

NCAA rules allow Frankamp to practice with the Shockers and attend the game. Since he is not eligible to play until Dec. 12, NCAA rules prohibit WSU from providing transportation, hotel or meals.

While the rest of the team took a bus to Wednesday morning’s practice at HP Field House, he hired an Uber ride to get there. When the Shockers finished, he snagged a ride to Celebration High School, six miles away, for WSU’s second practice session. His teammates and coaches rode the black-and-yellow tour bus with a WuShock logo on the window.

“It’s adherence to NCAA rules,” Marshall said. “He had to pay his own way. We can’t transport or feed him or anything like that.”

What’s it all mean? — While it is too early to worry about Wichita State’s NCAA at-large resume, this week can’t be wasted — both in victories and strength of schedule — without consequences in March.

Thursday’s winners are set up to play strong teams on Friday and Sunday. Fortunately for Thursday’s losers, this eight-team field appears strong enough that a team in the losers bracket might earn a helpful victory.

Iowa (3-0), Dayton (3-0), Notre Dame (3-0) and Monmouth (2-1) are WSU’s possible Sunday opponents. Iowa, Dayton and Notre Dame all reside in the top 50 of Ken Pomeroy’s rankings.

Monmouth, which owns a win at UCLA, is picked second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

On the call – ESPN’s Dave O’Brien and Miles Simon will broadcast the games. Dick Vitale is scheduled to work one of Friday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Injuries push Wichita State’s Ty Taylor into bigger role than planned."